Three Brothers

In recent years, Keiu Maasik’s works have been discussing people’s relationship with weapons and violence in both the physical and virtual space. There is a sense of doomsday in the air, and Maasik is interested in whether the manifestations of violence in culture feed this imagination, or instead help us better prepare for the coming post-apocalyptic future.

The video Three Brothers documents the relationship Maasik’s father and his two uncles have with weapons. One of the three brothers likes to go hunting, the second collects guns, takes part in shooting competitions and goes to the rifle range, while the third fully satisfied his curiosity for guns before high school and has now distanced himself from them. Speaking in the video are Maasik’s uncle who lives in Finland and his father who lives in Tartu. The third brother did not agree to appear in front of the camera and is represented by the installation Little Brother’s Room surrounding the video.

When it was first displayed in 2019, the work resonated with the fear of school shootings and terrorism. The war in Ukraine has changed the public attitude towards weapons and national defence. I have to admit that I, too, sense a change in my resolute anti-gun attitude. Even though I want with all my heart to see war as a way of settling human dissonances disappear into history, I now realise that picking up arms in the name of love can be an inevitable way to confront a monstrous aggressor.